74 Verdante Windrider's Returning Rookie

Inside one of the stadium's meeting rooms, a man with a broad, well-developed pair of shoulders and a black crew cut hairstyle could be seen standing at attention beside the old moustached Head Coach of Verdante college.

The reason that the musculature of his shoulders could be clearly described was because the man was currently wearing a dark green no-sleeve shirt that was paired together well with his long sport pants and a pair of boots.

In terms of stature, Sam Lee was not someone with a large towering build like Baron or Greg. He's not even as tall as the above average Derrick.

His body was perfectly well-proportioned.

And although his muscles might not be as clearly defined as some of the other regular players in front of him, in his own words, Sam would call it 'functional'.

Weirdly enough, this man, whose looks and build was neither too astonishing nor intimidating, had right now caused the rest of Verdante's strong and skilled 1st string players to turn very silent and highly cautious of himself.

Just now, their Head Coach had clearly told them that because of the return of the guy in front, their current line-up of regular players would have exactly one person that would get swapped out.

This is a big deal for them!

And judging by the grim looks on some of the lower rung players in their string, none of them took lightly the threat coming from this man in front.

Because, even if they didn't know him personally, everyone would still at least have heard of his name if they're truly part of Verdante's Arena team!

The most promising newbie in their school just a couple year's back.

'But...' Covertly, one person from the crowd took a glance at Sam in front and observed him carefully,

'doesn't he look... Tamer compared to before?' The aura that was currently exuded by the guy was very different compared to the impressions he'd had of him just a couple years back.

.

.

The current Sam was, or at least ought be, a 3rd year Guard player for the Verdante Windrider.

His tale had actually started during his 1st year of college here.

He was not a Starseed player or anything of the sort, but even then he had already been a talented enough player to get recruited by Verdante and many other Tier-1 schools in the Northern Sector.

A large part of this could actually be attributed to Sam's background as a person.

Sam Lee didn't start his athletic journey as an Arena player initially.

In fact, he hadn't even started to consider it until his later years in high school. And this was all because of one reason only,

He and his entire family had actually come from a long line of pure martial artists!

.

Because of this background, even when he had just started dabbling in Arena without the least bit of technical knowledge, he had quickly outshined many of his then teammates purely through his combat prowess alone!

His school at that time had even been brought to the main championship tournament purely through his own effort and the overwhelming fighting capability of an already well-developed martial arts.

During the qualifiers, most of his team's wins had not been achieved through score counting after the time's up. Instead, it had been through the eliminations of the opponents' entire reserve of Solvers.

Wild animalistic fighting style, advanced bodily control, and fast reaction speed. These were all the things that defined Sam as a player.

If there was one thing that could be said to be his only shortcoming back then, it would be his temper when he played.

Time and again, Sam's untamed wild nature had caused this player to be given several warnings or suspensions by the match's referees throughout his entire Arena career.

In his active period, his nickname given by his peers was 'The Beast'. Because of his nearly unrestrained fierceness on the field.

.

When Sam first arrived at Verdante, through the showcase of his fighting ability, he had directly climbed onto the 2nd string right after the school's first training camp.

And within the same month of that promotion, Sam had quickly applied for and gotten his license and Gene Mod successfully through the usual procedure!

At that time, everybody on the team had simply thought that he would once again be quickly promoted into the 1st string after that based on the results of his first Uncrowned Tournament alone.

After all, at that point in time, Sam had even dared to occasionally spend some days training together with the 1st string team at the behest of one of the coaches.

This was because by then, the standard of Sam's combat skills had already been on par if not better than some of the past regulars, even after accounting for their difference in Physical State and Muscle Strength.

However,

Close to the period of the Silver Crown's opening of that year.

Very unexpectedly, the same moustached Head Coach of that time had firmly rejected the decision of him joining his 1st string regulars without any discussions whatsoever.

That day,

(OLD MAN, what's the meaning of this!!? I have earned my place in the 1st string!!! I'm practically part of the team already!)

When he was confronted by the then angry Sam who had barged into his office while shouting words at the top of his lungs, the Head Coach had calmly replied to him,

(Your personality is short-tempered and your judgement as a player on the field is erratic at best. No self-respecting coach in their right mind would want to put someone like you on the team. It'll be like carrying a time bomb.)

(I allowed you to play with the 1st string in training simply because you can keep up. It's good for the team to have regular training partner from outside. Because you really ARE strong, Lee.)

(But with JUST that. I, for one, don't need someone like you in my team.)

(...!)

Outside of everyone's expectations of the situation, Verdante's Head Coach had outrightly told the young Sam that if he couldn't fix this problem, he would never let him play anywhere other than 2nd string in his entire 4 years of college.

But more surprisingly than that, the then young Sam had actually listened to him!

No one was actually clear on the nature of the two's discussion behind the closed door 'meeting' of that time, but after Sam had come out of the Head Coach's office...

With a firm look in his eyes, he had directly applied for the school's optional Military Service program in exchange for credits!

Whether it e the coach's order or his own initiative, at the time, everybody had thought that Sam had gone insane.

Going to the military would waste 2 of his precious years that instead could be used to gain actual experience in Battle Arena.

But alas, his decision had been firm.

And now, that once prodigal rookie of Verdante had returned. And judging by the Head Coach's words, it would seem that he would directly rejoin as a regular?

In front of all the regular players, the Sam who had been standing straight as an arrow all this while, quickly opened a gap between his legs while putting both of his arms behind his back.

It was the military's parade rest position.

"Good afternoon seniors!!!" He shouted loudly,

"I look forward to finally be working together with you all starting today!"

""...""

Truth be told, except for the current Captain and Vice-Captain, nobody on the team had had the chance to train together or even meet with the returning Sam, so they didn't really know how to respond at this moment.

The 2nd years had only ever heard of him from the rumors, and the 3rd and 4th years who remembered him back in his 1st year almost couldn't recognize him today.

By Sam's side, the same old Head Coach with the moustache closed both of his eyes and nodded with a satisfied smile in silence without interrupting anything.

At this time, most of his preparations to compete for this season was finally ready!

.

.

Monday, September 1st, 218 UD.

Back at Ravenville.

""GO Illusions!!""

It was one of those days where it was an open practice session for the 1st string's training.

During this open training sessions, not only would the stadium be open for any students of Ravenville, they would also be allowed to see the content of both the regulars' combined and individual practice.

Of course, because the coaches were the one to arrange for it, they had also mostly adjusted the content of the training to the ones that would hold no risk even if they were to be leaked outside.

Actually, if it weren't for it being mandatory to have some open training sessions by the school's order, the coaches would always be reluctant to do this kind of thing in the first place.

But because the school would still need to consider the public's recognition for them and their entire brand and reputation, things like this would always be inevitable.

In the end, as a sport, Battle Arena was also a form of entertainment for the masses. One of the biggest ones at that.

That's why, keeping up the public's interest on the sport would always be one of the priorities of both OPL and the school's Athletic and Sports Committee at any time.

But because of that, it also couldn't be helped that some of the new regular players were still not used to these mandatory open training sessions.

It's not really because of the presence of the normal students and other audience per se, but instead...

"I-L-L-U--"

In these open sessions, it was the rows and rows of uniformed girls with pom poms that were dancing and jumping around that caused Naomi to become more distracted today as well.

"ILLUSIONS!"

Of course, there're also someone like Greg who was distracted for a whole another reason,

"Yeeeaah!!" He raised both his hands in a pose after successfully knocking Irvine back out his tower zone, but at this time.

*thunk* *THWACK*

From behind him, Derrick kicked the back of his lower leg causing his balance to be broken before hitting the side of his neck down towards the ground!

He then proceeded to electrocute the heck out of him after successfully completing his grapple on the large sized player.

*BZZZZT*

"Aaagh!"

With him occupied, Naomi and Irvine once again took their chance to move towards the tower and solve.

.

*BEEEEEEP*

After the alarm signifying the end of practice was sounded, Derrick stood up from above Greg's body and shook his head helplessly,

"...You're hopeless."

"Ahh, pain--" Below, Greg could still feel the jolt of Derrick's [Shock] on his body causing him to feel numb.

At this time, Irvine had also arrived closer towards the two sophomores and spoke rather curiously,

"Well, I understand they have to practice as well, but why is the cheerleading team need to do it alongside our practice?"

"They said they need to have some references for... Something, I dunno, I don't get it either." Derrick shook his head again as he answered.

"W, well... at least they're enthusiastic?" Naomi added while sneaking some glances towards the group of attractive girl students.

Even after the alarm had finished, the group of cheerleaders were still in the last phase of their dance formation,

"RAVENVILLE~~!"

"...Uh-huh." Irvine himself had no words for it.

Ever since the end of their 3rd match against the Tycoons, the Ravenville's cheerleading team that was also responsible in cheering for the Arena team had started to have their daily practice inside the stadium whenever it was the day for the open session.

At first they would just silently practice their dance moves without actually cheering, but as they got closer to the Verdante's match, the group of girls had also begun to do proper trial runs alongside the team's practice rounds.

"--Hey, what's wrong with that!! They're doing their best for us you know!" Greg countered with the same enthusiasm as the cheerleaders.

"That would be a good argument if you're actually trying your best today..." Derrick stared at him with skeptical look on his face.

"CLAYTON!!" At this time, one of the coaches at the side had suddenly called out to Greg before he could have a chance to retort.

"That's your cue big guy."

"Ugh..." With a slump, Greg could only make his way towards the team's corner where the coaches were watching their practice.

*sigh* "Poor guy. I'll bet those girls are only here for Clint anyhow. No way they're looking at him."

That last comment had made the still nervous Naomi to chuckle with contained laughter.

.

Inside the changing room after practice.

"Hey, Lang."

As Irvine was just about to take off the upper parts of his exosuit, the voice of the Captain, Renee Morgan, resounded behind him.

'?'

"Yes, ma'am."

"...What's with the ma'am? Come with me to the Head Coach's office after this, we're being called."

"Oh... Naomi as well?" Irvine already had an inkling the moment he heard her words.

If he and the Captain were being called together, it could only be regarding their position as Solvers, that's why he'd asked such a question back.

"Yeah, her as well. But she's still in the shower so you go there first." Renee on the other hand, was already quite used to the keen observational skill of this junior of hers.

"Alright. What do you think it's about?"

"You've heard the briefings last Friday right?"

"So... Sam Lee?"

*nod*

"We need countermeasures should Verdante choose to focus on our Solvers rather than our towers."